1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sanitary toilets generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a novel ventilation system for such toilets that may be easily retrofitted to existing toilet installations.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,150, issued Oct. 21, 1975, to Poister et al., describes a toilet stool ventilating means which includes an adapter plate mounted under the water tank of a toilet and having therein an opening disposed underneath the toilet seat. A blower disposed underneath the adapter plate, or in the water tank, draws air into the opening, through a charcoal filter, and then discharges the air into the room or outside. It can be seen that the device described requires modification of an existing toilet installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,370, issued Aug. 1, 1978, to Arnold, describes an odorless water closet which comprises a relatively complicated, specially designed toilet having seals and air gathering means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,664, issued Sep. 12, 1989, to Higgins, describes a vent system for a toilet which includes a blower mounted in the water tank of the toilet. The blower draws air through openings in the lower surface of a hollow toilet seat and discharges the air through a passage in the toilet to a soil pipe below the siphon chamber of the toilet. A self-filling water seal is provided within the water tank to prevent foul air from blowing back into the toilet. The system described requires the use of a specially constructed toilet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,299, issued Mar. 12, 1991, to Menge, describes a toilet with apparatus for evacuating malodorous air from the bowl which includes a specially designed water tank having therein an air evacuation apparatus and a special water/air valving apparatus. During use of the toilet and before the flushing thereof, air is drawn from the toilet bowl through the flushing connection thereto and is discharged into the vent flue connected to the soft pipe. When it is desired to flush the toilet, the air system is valved off and water enters the toilet bowl in the normal manner through the flushing connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,119, issued Jun. 30, 1992, to Munoz, describes an odor reduction toilet apparatus which, in one embodiment, shows an exhaust fan mounted above the ceiling of the room in which the toilet is installed and connected to the overflow pipe in the water tank. The fan is connected to the overflow pipe by a tube which passes through a hole cut in the rear wall of the water tank. In another embodiment, a fan housing is suspended in the water tank by means of hooks engaging the upper edge of the rear wall of the water tank, and the fan housing is attached to the top of the overflow pipe by uncertain means. The fan blows air against a cache of deodorizer, capturing some of the deodorizer in the air, and the air then blows into the toilet bowl. The arrangement is intended to provide deodorized air within the toilet bowl, but the flow of air out of the toilet bowl around the seat thereof would appear to aggravate the odor problem for anyone using the toilet, as well as creating an unpleasant draft.
Everyone is familiar with the odors that can exist around toilet installations. Many of these odors emanate directly from the present use of the toilets, but other odors result from poorly cleaned toilets and any associated bacteria growing therein. There have been many attempts to solve the problem of such odors, the simplest being to hang a deodorizing device near the toilet or in the toilet bowl. Another type of solution is a room exhaust fan. A particular disadvantage of the latter is that a large flow of air is required, since a whole room must be ventilated. This can cause an unpleasant draft, objectionable noise, and increased heating costs during cold weather. An additional type of solution is to install an air gathering device around or under the toilet seat, or to replace the existing toilet seat with a special device, or otherwise provide a means to draw the air from the toilet bowl.
Some of the aforementioned systems require specially designed toilets, and none of the above systems can be retrofitted to an existing toilet without some modification of the toilet.